Sheets or webs of a material are often formed using an extrusion process. For example, a thermoplastic may be heated and extruded through a die to form a sheet of desired thickness. At times, it may be desired to coextrude two or more different materials to form a laminate. This has been accomplished in the past through the use of multi-manifold dies or by combining the flows of the materials upstream of a single manifold die. In the latter case, a feed block is coupled between two or more extruders and the die and combines the flows of the various materials.
During use, there is the inevitable build up of burned or other waste material in portions of the feed block. Also, certain materials are corrosive, particularly in areas of stagnate flow. These conditions result in the need to periodically disassemble the feed block for cleaning and maintenance purposes. Also, it may prove necessary from time to time to adjust various flow parameters, such as flow velocity and volume, particularly when different materials are used over time. Previous feed block designs have not permitted ease of disassembly for cleaning and maintenance purposes, nor have they provided the ability to adjust and/or control all flow parameters.